Atem
Atem, known as Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi) in the Japanese manga version, and also referred to as the Nameless Pharaoh, is the main protagonist of the original and second Yu-Gi-Oh! ''anime and manga series, along with Yugi Mutou. He is the centerpiece of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh! series, and is the driving force behind most of the events that transpired during the series, with the exceptions of the Domino City Battles, Virtual World and the Grand Championship arcs. In the Fiction Wrestling Multiverse (FWM), Atem is a professional wrestler currently signed to Apex Caliber Wrestling (ACW) on the Ignition brand. Before having his own body, he’s acknowledged as a successful veteran along with Yugi throughout his entire career from within the Millennium Puzzle. Outside of wrestling, Atem is the co-lead vocalist alongside Yugi and lead guitarist of the band Heroes. Background * Series: Yu-Gi-Oh! * Species: Human * Age: 3,000+ years old (original anime/manga); Late teens to early twenties (by his looks) * Height: 5’11” * Weight: 215 lbs. * Companies: (Currently) APEX (Formerly) ECW: Blood & Ink * Debut: 1996 * Status: Active * Billed from: Domino City, Japan * Allies: Yugi Mutou (surrogate brother), Téa Gardner, Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, Duke Devlin * Rivals: Seto Kaiba, The Symbiotes (Venom and Carnage), Alpha & Omega, The Gods of Darkness * Twitter: @PharaohAtem Professional wrestling career ECW: Blood & Ink Birth of “Yami Yugi” (1996–1997) Yugi would be assaulted by Frieza, Cell, and Super Buu, but then Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor, displaying a newfound friendship they have for him, run out to stop it. Yugi took this chance to escape to the back as Joey and Tristan fought all three heels, though unfortunately for them, they would be defeated as well. Fans assume Yugi was a coward for leaving them behind, but he comes back a much taller version of himself, had the dark expression, and a glowing eye on his forehead. This Yugi was a different Yugi as he came into the ring and attacked all three Dragon Ball Z villains with a metal baseball bat wrapped in barbwire in hand, going insane on them. In the end, he stood tall and from Yugi’s new profound and dark personality, things were gonna change for him in ECW. This night was more known as Atem’s ECW debut. Time passed and “Yami Yugi” aka “The Pharaoh” Atem has been dominate over his opponents. While Atem is a much more reserve person in the Duel Monsters games, he is allowed by his host, Yugi, to be his true self in the Land of Extreme and go full psychotic on his opponents from gouging their eyes, hitting them with bats, beating them down until they’re knocked out, and putting them through tables and the fans would love it no matter what. One night, however, changed their point of view when Atem took it too far when he held Videl, Hercule’s daughter, hostage as he had a noose around her neck and the platform holding her from being hanged. He challenged his “favorite victim,” Hercule, in a match when he wins, his daughter will be free. If not, she will be hanged. Hercule begged him to let go, but Atem would only mock him further in the deep end. That triggered Hercule’s fatherly instincts and he attacked him with every inch of muscle and fist he had in him, having arguably his best match this night in either WWF, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), and any other tournaments and matches he’s been in. Unfortunately, Atem still won in the end when he choked Hercule out with a Camel Clutch aided by his barbwire, earning a technical knockout and winning by default. After the match, he had pressed the button as Videl would be hung and passed out soon. This night actually earned Atem so much hate and detest towards him as he left. At the next ECW show, Yugi came out to the ring to apologize for his actions which weren’t really his own and he explained and confessed that he had a spirit as “Yami Yugi” in him that made him act out. The actions he’s done to Hercule and Videl he would never do on his own and considering the ECW Mutants had heard worse and stranger things than this, they forgave him and applaud his apology for his abhorrent mess. The good part came to a sudden end when the three Dragon Ball Z villains, Frieza, Cell, and Super Buu (with the Millennium Puzzle in hand) walked out and surrounded Yugi to proceed of a 3-on-1 assault to make him “pay” after the hell they went through against Atem. Then, Joey and Tristan ran out to fight them off, but it wasn’t enough of as they got demolished and the worst part for Yugi was when Cell smashed his Puzzle to pieces over his head, leaving him dazed and defeated along with his comrades and Atem’s spirit shattered in the puzzle under the DBZ villains’ hands. Animation Television Champion (1997) March of 1997, Yugi faced Cell for his ECW Animation Television Championship, but as Atem Yugi once again. This time, it was different; Yami had declared a simple Shadow Game where if Atem wins, he gets Cell’s title and that was it—nothing more, nothing less. Frieza and Super Buu had come out to interfere with the match, but The Pharaoh was ahead of them when he landed a Moonsault with the chair in their faces on them. Then, he nailed the Tigerbomb to Cell through the chair and put him in a Camel Clutch with the chair as an aided weapon to choke him out and Cell had no choice but to submit. With that, Yugi won his first title in ECW and had become the new ECW Animation Television Champion, and this win propelled Yugi into higher rankings as a major fan favorite thanks to his spirit, Atem. Animation Tag Team Champion (1997–1998) ECW Animation World Championship Tournament (1998) Apex Caliber Wrestling World Tag Team Champion (2013) On April 5, 2013, Atem debuted with Yugi Mutou as Altered Egos and faced Alpha & Omega (Carter Young and Stan Terra) to a losing effort due to an interference by The Gods of Darkness (Yami Bakura and Marik Ishtar) attacking Yugi. Atem would then be attacked as well by them backstage after knowing Yugi’s condition. Later in the same night, he, Yugi and the Erupting Eds helped Naruto Uzumaki and Isaac Clarke fend off The Gods of Darkness, Alpha & Omega and The Wolves (Hannibal Ambrose, Erik Rollins and Damian Reigns). Personality In the early manga, Atem starts out as an merciless vigilante. He emerges to deal justice to people who trespass the souls of Yugi and his friends. Although his acts are righteous, he lives up to his namesake of Dark; his Penalty Game punishments are usually very brutal. Later, while living inside Yugi’s body, he seems to become more of a caring, nice and friendly disposition, even though he always had that in him, and the friendship of Yugi’s friends had helped it be revealed to others. Atem is a strong, powerful and skilled pharaoh. He attempts to balance darkness and evil in his use of the Shadow Magic from his Millennium Item. Unlike Yami Bakura and Yami Marik, he never uses it for personal gain, instead preferring to help others in need, and to inflict punishment only on people who have severely wronged innocents. He is slightly reserved, as he doesn’t reveal his existence to Yugi or his friends. At first, Yugi feared Yami Yugi, but after Yugi admits to thinking “another Yugi” exists inside him, his friends become aware of his existence and accepted him as a friend. Even before, Yami is extremely protective of Yugi. Atem’s pride is his greatest strength and weakness. Initially, he refuses to lose games, without considering the consequences. This has caused him to almost kill Seto Kaiba by attacking his monster while he stood on a ledge and the shockwaves could cause him to fall if Yugi chose to win the Duel (in the Japanese version, Kaiba threatened to commit suicide should he lose). Yugi holds him back from such acts at times, but he is not always successful. Yugi becomes afraid to let Atem out for a while, because of the harm he could cause. During his Duel with Rafael, Atem, albeit with great hesitation, eventually ignored Yugi’s objections and used the Seal of Orichalcos rather than lose. Ironically, it was this action and Yami’s subsequent corrupt actions during the Duel would lead to one of his few defeats and the capture of Yugi’s soul by Dartz. Atem expressed great grief and guilt following the battle due to Yugi’s willingly suffering, which were because of his actions. However, he was able to conquer and purge the darkness within himself, which also eradicating the malignant influence of the Orichalcos that remains within him. Learning how to lose became an essential aspect of Atem’s journey, which he is tested in the Ceremonial Battle. Yami is also wise and intelligent. He knows all the rules and details of how the game is played, as well as those of all games. He also knows several special game techniques, such as the Double Hit dice roll technique, which, when two dice are used and the one with the weak spin stops first, lets him make the dice that’s already spinning hit the one that isn’t, allowing him to change its number, which is done by bumping the field with a body part, e.g the elbow. Despite being an ancient pharaoh, Atem is very quick to learning and utilizing modern technology. He, despite initial shock, was able to quickly grasp the concept of holographic technology, how Dueling Arenas and field Power Bonuses worked, was able to use the Dungeon Dice Monsters Help computer to quickly formulate strategies, and was able to use Duel Disks flawlessly on the first try. Yami is also capable of translating the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, figuring out the riddles or clues and what they mean. Through Yugi and his friends, Atem learns the values and powers of friendship and unity. After seeing Yugi overcome Marik in his Duel with Joey, who had been possessed, he thinks to himself while learning something from Yugi, that in kindness lies the greatest strength of all, and one day, Yugi will surpass him in every way. In the Japanese anime, Yami often refers to Yugi as “Aibou” (Partner) although there have been instances where he also refers to Yugi as “Other Me,” although being more prideful than Yugi he uses “ore” as such he would call Yugi “Mou hitori no ore”. Personal life Atem is closer to Yugi Mutou considering the times they’ve spent in the past and what he has learned in life from Yugi. Since then, he’s considered Yugi as his own little brother. Considering the friendship between him and Naruto Uzumaki, he plays the role of the “straight man” to Naruto’s “comic” character. Atem is currently in a relationship with Orihime Inoue. In wrestling Atem’s move-set is set similar to Matt Hardy’s, but he mostly adopts the brawling powerhouse style from The Undertaker. Finishing moves * Camel Clutch, sometimes uses various weapons to aid his hold – ECW; used as a signature move thereafter * Mind Crush (AWF) / Penalty Game (XCF) (Double Underhook Facebuster) * Pharaoh’s Endgame (Front Facelock Cutter, sometimes from the top rope) * Pharaoh’s Tomb (Kneeling Reverse Piledriver, most often followed by a “Rest in Peace” pin) * The Scarabomb (Double Underhook lifted and dropped into a Double Knee Backbreaker) – innovator; used rarely thereafter Signature moves * Back Body Drop * Bear Hug, sometimes transitioned into a Spinebuster Thrust into the ring post * Bridging Double Chickenwing * Corner Sitout Powerbomb * Dark Impaler (Lifting DDT) * Diving Elbow Drop, sometimes to the back of a bent-over or kneeling opponent’s head * Diving Leg Drop * Double Foot Stomp * European Uppercut, sometimes while sliding to a kneeling opponent * Forearm Smash * Fujiwara Armbar * Gory Special * Knee Lift to the opponent’s midsection, as a counter to an oncoming opponent * Millennium Effect (Sitout Side Slam) * Multiple Clothesline variations ** Corner, sometimes followed by a Bulldog ** Leaping Flying ** Rebound * Multiple Suplex variations ** Altered Drop (Belly-to-back lifted and dropped into an elbow drop to the opponent’s midsection) ** German ** Northern Lights ** Swinging Double Underhook ** X * Old School (Arm Twist Ropewalk Chop) – adopted from The Undertaker * Over the top rope Suicide Dive * Pharaoh’s Eternal Slumber (Standing Dragon Sleeper) * Reverse STO * Running DDT * Running Elbow Drop * Running Knee Strike to a cornered opponent * Running Leg Drop, sometimes to an apron-hung opponent * Russian Legsweep * Single arm choke, often to a cornered opponent * Sitout Crucifix Powerbomb * Snake Eyes, followed by a Running Big Boot or Leaping Flying Clothesline * Spellbinding Circle (Crossface Chickenwing with bodyscissors) * Stairway to the Underworld (Elevated Powerbomb) * Throat Thrust * Triangle Choke Managers * Yugi Mutou Nicknames * “Dark / Yami Yugi” * “The Pharaoh” Entrance themes * “In the Middle of It Now” by Disciple (April 5, 2013 – May 24, 2013; used while as a part of Altered Egos) * “Evil Angel” by Breaking Benjamin (April 19, 2013) * “Dark Passenger” by Fozzy (July 5, 2013 – present) * “Loaded” by Zack Tempest (APEX; May 26, 2013 – August 30, 2013; used while as a part of Altered Egos) * “We Ride” by Pillar (APEX; December 1, 2018 – present; used while as a part of Altered Egos) Championships and accomplishments Apex Caliber Wrestling * ACW World Tag Team Championship (1 time, inaugural) – with Yugi Mutou Extreme Championship Wrestling ECW: Blood & Ink * ECW Animation World Championship (1 time)1 * ECW Animation Tag Team Championship (1 time)1 – with Joey Wheeler * ECW Animation Television Championship (1 time)1 Trivia # His ECW title reigns are due to controlling Yugi as Yami Yugi. Category:Fictional Wrestlers Category:Male Wrestlers Category:ACW Wrestlers